While exploring how CDTV titles store preferences and save data, we found ourselves reconstructing a mostly forgotten part of the platform: the bookmark and cardmark ID numbers. With no official records surviving from the Commodore era, we’ve compiled everything we know into a new community resource: the CDTV Bookmark & Cardmark ID Registry!
Continue reading “Introducing the CDTV Bookmark and Cardmark Identifier Registry”
Part of the visual impact of the CDTV Title Screen is the captivating animation of the three rotating CDTV logos. You would be forgiven for thinking that this animation was made with 3D software. These letters were actually made by hand, then rotated and photographed, imported into an Amiga, cleaned up, and turned into the animation you see on the Title Screen and in the CDTV screen saver. Read on to learn about this intriguing piece of CDTV history!
Limitation breeds creativity, the saying goes, and the CDTV title screen is a classic example of this. Creatively speaking it is both an artistic and a technical achievement, and CDTV Land will be showing you why, as we uncover how this intriguing artifact of Commodore history came to be and how it works under the hood.
The A570 CD-ROM drive is a fascinating part of Commodore’s legacy, as it is inextricably linked with CDTV: it makes the A500 compatible with CDTV titles. The original CD1000 CDTV player turned out to be an unmitigated disaster for Commodore with approximately just 80,000 units manufactured and Commodore hardly being able to sell them. So how did the A570 fare in comparison, and how many units did Commodore make? And what’s up with that A690 drive? Join me for another excursion into the fascinating world of Commodore’s CDTV history! Continue reading “How Many A690/A570 Drives Did Commodore Make?”
The merciless price slashing that Commodore employed on their ill-fated CDTV line in the early 1990s is the stuff of legends. I decided to take a closer look at how CDTV retail prices developed during those turbulent years and try to place the price cuts in a historical context.
The 6500/1 (marked as 252609-02) and the LC6554H are two microcontrollers inside the CD-1000 that perform several CDTV player hardware specific I/O functions. The ROM code that lives inside these controllers has now finally been dumped and preserved!
When Commodore started selling CDTV in 1991 they were hoping to kickstart a new category of consumer electronics. Sadly, this dream never materialized. While there are no hard numbers on how many units they sold in total worldwide, the estimate based on quotes from various Commodore sales subsidiaries ranges somewhere in the tens of thousands. This begs the question, how many CDTV players did Commodore actually manufacture? Join me and find out!
Continue reading “How many CDTV units did Commodore make?”
The publically available versions 2.7 and 2.30 CDTV OS ROMs/Extended ROMs, are often used to upgrade CDTV players. While they do work in a CDTV player, there are some minor incompatibilities CDTV owners need to be aware of. Find out what these problems are and what your options are to avoid them!
Continue reading “Setting the Record Straight on 2.7 and 2.30 CDTV ROMs”
